Last Modified: Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 12:10 a.m.

Back with her owners, Jacob and Bonnie Richter of West Palm Beach, a
4-year-old cat, Holly, managed to return to her hometown after a 200-mile
trek that has scientists baffled.NEW YORK TIMES PHOTOS / BARBARA P.
FERNANDEZ

Facts

"I really believe these stories, but they're just hard to explain.
Maybe being street-smart, maybe reading animal cues, maybe being able to
read cars, maybe being a good hunter. I have no data for this."

– Marc Bekoff,behavioral ecologist

Even scientists are baffled by how Holly, a 4-year-old tortoiseshell who in early November became separated from Jacob and Bonnie Richter at an RV rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., appeared on New Year's Eve -- staggering, weak and emaciated -- in a back yard about a mile from the Richters' house in West Palm Beach.

"Are you sure it's the same cat?" wondered John Bradshaw, director of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol in England. In other cases, he has suspected, "the cats are just strays, and the people have got kind of a mental justification for expecting it to be the same cat." But Holly not only had distinctive black-and-brown harlequin patterns on her fur, but also an implanted microchip to identify her.

"I really believe these stories, but they're just hard to explain," said Marc Bekoff, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Colorado. "Maybe being street-smart, maybe reading animal cues, maybe being able to read cars, maybe being a good hunter. I have no data for this."

There is, in fact, little scientific dogma on cat navigation. Migratory animals like birds, turtles and insects have been studied more closely, and use magnetic fields, olfactory cues or orientation by the sun. Scientists say it is more common, although still rare, to hear of dogs returning home, perhaps suggesting, Bradshaw said, that they have inherited wolves' ability to navigate using magnetic clues. But it is also possible that dogs get taken on more family trips, and that lost dogs are more easily noticed or helped by people along the way.

Cats navigate well around familiar landscapes, memorizing locations by sight and smell, and easily figuring out shortcuts, Bradshaw said. Strange, faraway locations would seem problematic, although he and Patrick Bateson, a behavioral biologist at Cambridge University, say cats can sense smells across long distances. "Let's say they associate the smell of pine with wind coming from the north, so they move in a southerly direction," Bateson said.

Peter Borchelt, a New York animal behaviorist, wondered if Holly followed the Florida coast by sight or sound, tracking Interstate 95 and deciding to "keep that to the right and keep the ocean to the left." But, he said, "nobody's going to do an experiment and take a bunch of cats in different directions and see which ones get home."

The closest, said Roger Tabor, a British cat biologist, may have been a 1954 study in Germany, in which cats placed in a covered circular maze with exits every 15 degrees most often exited in the direction of their homes. They did so more reliably if their homes were less than five kilometers away. New research by the National Geographic and University of Georgia's Kitty Cams Project, using video footage from 55 pet cats wearing video cameras on their collars, suggests cat behavior is exceedingly complex.

For example, the Kitty Cams study found that four of the cats were two-timing their owners, visiting other homes for food and affection. Not every cat, it seems, shares Holly's loyalty.

Kitty Cams also showed most of the cats engaging in risky behavior, including crossing roads and "eating and drinking substances away from home," risks Holly undoubtedly experienced and seems lucky to have survived. But there have been other cats who made unexpected comebacks.

The Richters -- Bonnie, 63, a retired nurse, and Jacob, 70, a retired airline mechanics' supervisor and accomplished bowler -- began traveling with Holly only last year, and she easily tolerated a hotel, a cabin or the RV.

But during the Good Sam RV Rally in Daytona, when they were camping with 3,000 other motor homes, Holly bolted when Bonnie Richter's mother opened the door one night. Fireworks the next day may have further spooked her, and, after searching for days, alerting animal agencies and posting fliers, the Richters returned home catless.

Two weeks later, an animal rescue worker called the Richters to say a cat resembling Holly had been spotted eating behind the Daytona franchise of Hooters, where employees put out food for feral cats. Then, on New Year's Eve, Barb Mazzola, a university executive assistant, noticed a cat "barely standing" in her back yard in West Palm Beach, struggling even to meow. Over six days, Mazzola and her children cared for the cat, putting out food, including special milk for cats, and eventually the cat came inside.

They named her Cosette after the orphan in "Les Miserables," and took her to a veterinarian, Dr. Sara Beg at Paws2Help. Beg said the cat was underweight and dehydrated, had "back claws and nail beds worn down, probably from all that walking on pavement," but was "bright and alert" and had no parasites or viruses. "She was hesitant and scared around people she didn't know, so I don't think she went up to people and got a lift," she said. "I think she made the journey on her own."

At Paws2Help, Mazzola said, "I almost didn't want to ask, because I wanted to keep her, but I said, 'Just check and make sure she doesn't have a microchip."' When told the cat did, "I just cried." The Richters cried too upon seeing Holly, who instantly relaxed when placed on Jacob Richter's shoulder.

<p>Nobody knows how it happened: an indoor house cat who got lost on a family excursion managing, after two months and about 200 miles, to return to her hometown.</p><p>Even scientists are baffled by how Holly, a 4-year-old tortoiseshell who in early November became separated from Jacob and Bonnie Richter at an RV rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., appeared on New Year's Eve -- staggering, weak and emaciated -- in a back yard about a mile from the Richters' house in West Palm Beach.</p><p>"Are you sure it's the same cat?" wondered John Bradshaw, director of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol in England. In other cases, he has suspected, "the cats are just strays, and the people have got kind of a mental justification for expecting it to be the same cat." But Holly not only had distinctive black-and-brown harlequin patterns on her fur, but also an implanted microchip to identify her.</p><p>"I really believe these stories, but they're just hard to explain," said Marc Bekoff, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Colorado. "Maybe being street-smart, maybe reading animal cues, maybe being able to read cars, maybe being a good hunter. I have no data for this."</p><p>There is, in fact, little scientific dogma on cat navigation. Migratory animals like birds, turtles and insects have been studied more closely, and use magnetic fields, olfactory cues or orientation by the sun. Scientists say it is more common, although still rare, to hear of dogs returning home, perhaps suggesting, Bradshaw said, that they have inherited wolves' ability to navigate using magnetic clues. But it is also possible that dogs get taken on more family trips, and that lost dogs are more easily noticed or helped by people along the way.</p><p>Cats navigate well around familiar landscapes, memorizing locations by sight and smell, and easily figuring out shortcuts, Bradshaw said. Strange, faraway locations would seem problematic, although he and Patrick Bateson, a behavioral biologist at Cambridge University, say cats can sense smells across long distances. "Let's say they associate the smell of pine with wind coming from the north, so they move in a southerly direction," Bateson said.</p><p>Peter Borchelt, a New York animal behaviorist, wondered if Holly followed the Florida coast by sight or sound, tracking Interstate 95 and deciding to "keep that to the right and keep the ocean to the left." But, he said, "nobody's going to do an experiment and take a bunch of cats in different directions and see which ones get home."</p><p>The closest, said Roger Tabor, a British cat biologist, may have been a 1954 study in Germany, in which cats placed in a covered circular maze with exits every 15 degrees most often exited in the direction of their homes. They did so more reliably if their homes were less than five kilometers away. New research by the National Geographic and University of Georgia's Kitty Cams Project, using video footage from 55 pet cats wearing video cameras on their collars, suggests cat behavior is exceedingly complex.</p><p>For example, the Kitty Cams study found that four of the cats were two-timing their owners, visiting other homes for food and affection. Not every cat, it seems, shares Holly's loyalty.</p><p>Kitty Cams also showed most of the cats engaging in risky behavior, including crossing roads and "eating and drinking substances away from home," risks Holly undoubtedly experienced and seems lucky to have survived. But there have been other cats who made unexpected comebacks.</p><p>The Richters -- Bonnie, 63, a retired nurse, and Jacob, 70, a retired airline mechanics' supervisor and accomplished bowler -- began traveling with Holly only last year, and she easily tolerated a hotel, a cabin or the RV.</p><p>But during the Good Sam RV Rally in Daytona, when they were camping with 3,000 other motor homes, Holly bolted when Bonnie Richter's mother opened the door one night. Fireworks the next day may have further spooked her, and, after searching for days, alerting animal agencies and posting fliers, the Richters returned home catless.</p><p>Two weeks later, an animal rescue worker called the Richters to say a cat resembling Holly had been spotted eating behind the Daytona franchise of Hooters, where employees put out food for feral cats. Then, on New Year's Eve, Barb Mazzola, a university executive assistant, noticed a cat "barely standing" in her back yard in West Palm Beach, struggling even to meow. Over six days, Mazzola and her children cared for the cat, putting out food, including special milk for cats, and eventually the cat came inside.</p><p>They named her Cosette after the orphan in "Les Miserables," and took her to a veterinarian, Dr. Sara Beg at Paws2Help. Beg said the cat was underweight and dehydrated, had "back claws and nail beds worn down, probably from all that walking on pavement," but was "bright and alert" and had no parasites or viruses. "She was hesitant and scared around people she didn't know, so I don't think she went up to people and got a lift," she said. "I think she made the journey on her own."</p><p>At Paws2Help, Mazzola said, "I almost didn't want to ask, because I wanted to keep her, but I said, 'Just check and make sure she doesn't have a microchip."' When told the cat did, "I just cried." The Richters cried too upon seeing Holly, who instantly relaxed when placed on Jacob Richter's shoulder.</p><p><empty></p>